The Southeast corner of Tahanea is a great spot, especially when the wind is blowing from the South or East. Coming our way in the next few days is a bit of a blow, with a rotation around from South to East to North to West then back to the South then East. “Rock around the clock” as I like to call these events. Generally, the wind from the North and on around anti-clockwise to the West and South then East again isn’t very strong, but this particular weather system is packing a little bit more punch both in terms of wind and rain. We pay attention to both the ECMWF (European) and GFS (American) weather models, but the European model seems to be a bit more reliable here. This time both models are showing about the same general weather system behavior but the difference in wind and rain intensity is significant. Needless to say, JollyDogs will get a good bath.
Tahanea is a rather long atoll in the Northwest to Southeast dimension, and that means a Northwest wind has a lot of fetch but build up a sea and punish a boat anchored in the Southeast corner where we were. Sustained winds of 15 – 20 knots can blow up a bit of wave action and we do like our calm protected anchorages. With 7 other boats in the anchorage and all starting to think about where they might take shelter, we elected to weigh anchor and move towards the first place we anchored, just a bit Northwest of the middle pass. There’s a reef and a bit of a motu that sticks out to the West, and if one can just tuck in tight enough decent protection can be had.
Well, that’s our story and we’re sticking to it. We’re now anchored with about 6 feet of water under the keel, around 70’ of anchor chain deployed, and floats placed about every 20’ along the chain. There be bommies here! Anyway, this was our second attempt to get a good set today, as when we first arrived around 1040 this morning we found a sandy spot, dropped the hook and pulled down then in the water I went to see what we might swing around and hit. Isabel paddled around as well and also gave the anchor a good look. Turns out we dropped on a patch of thin sand over hard coral, and the anchor tip was about the only thing that dug in. Not good. There’s going to be a quiz about Wednesday, and ye olde Sarca Excel #5 better hold tight. We’ve got terrain blocking the seas from about 300 true around to the Southeast, so we should be pretty comfortable. Comfort enables sleep, one of our favorite hobbies.
Since attempt #1 didn’t work out so well, I lept into the dinghy to hunt for a better spot, a nice soft sandy patch with enough swinging room amongst the bommies so I could float the chain to avoid snags, and JollyDogs could rock around the clock without whacking any hazards. Found a spot, marked it with a weighted float then we performed anchoring drill #2. This time the anchor dug halfway to China, so I got all the floats installed and we both paddled around to satisfy ourselves that all would be well. With the exception of 8 small black tip sharks that seem to find us interesting, we’re all alone here, as it would seem that at least for now 4 of the other boats have moved to what’s called the #7 anchorage over on the West side. That anchorage is small and we figured everyone wouldn’t fit, so here we are. We do like our solitude, and lately we’ve been such social butterflies it’s nice to be alone for a change. In the past week we’ve had the entire anchorage on board for a potluck, had sundowners on SV Sancta Anna, had dinner (a killer Moroccan tagine) with Alex and Carla on SV Ari-B, then enjoyed a lunch time beach bbq with the entire anchorage yesterday. It’s been fun and we’ve made new friends, but darned if we don’t need a little alone time.
It’s also fun to leave the swim trunks behind and do a bit of skinny dipping. Not an option in a crowded anchorage. Hope the sharks don’t take offense.
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